Shadow of Reality
by Hysterik
Summary: The gang is summoned to a Duelist Party in Sydney, Australia. When a strange series of events leave them trapped in a Virtual World being slowly taken over by shadows, emotions are all over the place. What could happen? (Yami x Tea, Joey x Mai)
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! (Well duh)

**Inwe**: Hi everyone! This is my first fic ever! I don't know how good I am a writer so criticism (not flames!) will be accepted. It's a Yami x Téa story as you know already with some JoeyxMai and DukexSerenityxTristan as well. I hope you enjoy my fic!

**Prologue**:

"Yugi! Remember the mail!" a voice shouted.

"Yes Grandpa," a boy shouted back as he got up from the couch. This boy was Yugi Mutou. He was rather short, and he had unusual hair. It was three colours, the bulk of it black but with reddish highlights and golden bangs. He put his duel monsters cards away and went outside. It wasn't really a cold or hot day, with only a slight wind and the sun was visible through a couple of wispy clouds. He went to the mailbox. Inside were the usual letters, bills, ads... and a letter... for him. Slightly interested he took the letters and put them on the counter. He took the letter with him up into his room and looked at the letter closely again. It really did seem to be for him. He tore about the envelope, opened up the letter and read:

_Dear Mister Yugi Mutou, _

You are recognised as one of the top duellists in the world. Therefore we are inviting you to our exclusive duelist party in Sydney on the 23rd of April. We will be offering 5 star accommodation from the 22nd to the 29th of April and return air fares as well as $1000 (AUS) (**A/N: That's about $780 US) **_spending money and a chance to bring up to 2 friends. _

If you wish to come to the exclusive party please send your reply in a stamped envelope with the address shown on the back of this envelope.

We sincerely hope that you can come to our annual party.

Kind regards,

Jonothan

Yugi stared at the letter in excitement. Top duellists? That probably meant that Joey would be coming too! Yugi grabbed the phone and dialled Joey's number. Yugi waited patiently for someone to pick up. The tone of Joey's answering machine sounded instead.

"Hello, you have reached the Wheeler residence. If you would like to leave a short message please do after the tone."

"Hi, it's me, Yugi and I'm calling to..."

The phone clicked as it was picked up.

"Yuge! Hi it's Joey!" Joey said cheerfully on the other line.

"Hi, Joey! Have you checked your mail today?" Yugi said, a little impatiently, he really did want to know if Joey had the same chance as he had.

"No, why?" Joey sounded confused, which was justified, because Yugi's request did seem a little out of the ordinary.

"Just check, OK?"

"Just a sec..."

Yugi waited as Joey went outside. Yugi fiddled absent-mindedly with the phone cord as he waited for Joey to come back. The phone was picked back up.

"Dere's something for me!"

"I got a letter as well. Does it say that you are invited to a duelist party in Sydney?"

"Err..." there was a pause while Joey scanned the letter, "yeah it does! Two friends? Who are you bringing'?"

"Well we have to let Téa, Tristan, Bakura and Serenity come, right? Well I'll bring Téa and Bakura and you can bring Tristan and Serenity! I'm sure we'll all be able to go to the party together!" Yugi was thoroughly excited now, it sounded like a brilliant chance to see somewhere out of America.

"Hey, wait a sec... I wonder if Mai's been invited to dis thing?"

"I guess so... Do you have her email address?"

"Err... yeah she gave it to me a little while ago." Joey sounded flustered, but Yugi couldn't tell if he was blushing or otherwise.

"Well, ask her!"

"Alright!"

"Well... I'll see you later Joey!"

"See ya, Yuge!"

Yugi hung up the phone. He read the letter once through again. This was almost too good to be true. Sydney! In Australia! Yugi hoped there would be duels. Yugi picked up the phone and dialled Téa's number.

* * *

**  
Inwe**: Sorry guys! That first chapter was a little rushed. I'll take more care with the others! 


	2. Of the Harbour

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! (Well duh)

**Inwe**: Here's the start of the main story! Umm. well yeah I hope you enjoy this chapter!

**Chapter 1: Of the Harbour**

Téa Gardner was leaning just a little too far over the edge of the ferry. The wind picked up her brown hair and she tried to brush it away but with no result. The wind continued to blow her hair around her face. The salty sea air could be tasted on her lips and Téa's blue eyes were sparkling as if she wouldn't want to be anywhere else. She was in Sydney Harbour, along with her friends Yugi, Joey, Serenity, Tristan, Bakura and Mai. Téa was oblivious to the fact that someone was watching her. That someone was Yami (from inside the soul room). He was ashamed of himself for not enjoying the ride as much as the others.

Yugi and Bakura were laughing with Joey and Tristan as they watched the ferry pass Sydney's landmarks and the boat bumped on each wave. They had met Mai earlier and she had made a point of ignoring Joey until he had greeted her with a hug. When he had realised what he was doing he had blushed and both of them let go quickly and looked away from each other. She was now inside after complaining the wind would mess up her hair too much. Despite this she was still happy. She glanced every now and then at Joey with slightly pink cheeks. Serenity was next to Téa also leaning forward and laughing. And Téa, Téa looked so happy. It just seemed normal that Yami was watching her, or at least, he believed so.

/Is Téa enjoying herself/ Yugi asked Yami.

/I don't know. Why would you be asking me that question/

/You must have noticed something! You've been looking at her for a while/

/Yugi! Tell me what you're talking about/

/Figure it out for yourself/

A voice broke their conversation, "And in front of us you can see the Sydney Harbour Bridge an important landmark in Australia's culture. In was built in..." Flashes from tourists' cameras lit the boat.

"Yuge! Me, you and Mai better stay top duellists so we can come to this party every year!" yelled Joey.

"Joey! I'm right next to you, do you need to shout!" asked Yugi equally loudly.

"Guys.." said Bakura quietly, slightly embarrassed and looking around as if waiting to see accusing eyes glaring at him. No one even looked around.

"Aw Come on Bakura! Let us have our fun!" Tristan shouted.

Téa ducked behind the side narrowly missing a huge spurt of water coming straight for her. Serenity wasn't so lucky. She got a huge faceful of the salty seawater. Everyone burst out laughing. With a still dripping face she declared, "Maybe I'll go inside with Mai for a little while."

"And here you can see Sydney's other famous landmark the Sydney Opera house. The design is supposed to look like the sails of a ship..."

Once again the boat was lit by the flashes of cameras.

"Sydney's sure not what I thought it would be…" said Téa.

"Yeah! A lot less kangaroos!" said Joey cheerfully.

"That's not exactly what I meant..." said Téa, exasperated.

"Oh, don't mind Joey he doesn't pay any attention in class," Tristan said.

"I pay about as much attention as you do!" said Joey punching Tristan in the arm.

"Who says that I do?" said Tristan punching Joey back.

"Is there any place that you two don't fight?" asked Yugi.

"NO!" said Joey and Tristan in unison, "I MEAN YES!"

Téa laughed. "Figures..." she said.

Téa consulted her map. "By the look of things we get off next stop, Circular Quay."

"About time too," Joey muttered.

"Didn't you enjoy it, Joey?" said Mai sarcastically coming out of the inside of the boat with Serenity.

"Who says I didn't?" said Joey.

"Whatever," said Mai in a bored tone, "Téa, hon? Are there any markets around this Circular Quay place? Cause I could sure do with some cheap shopping."

The boys groaned.

"Well there is one place," said Téa after checking her map, "We have some spare time before we are needed at the hotel. So we could go there."

There was a slight pause.

"If it's OK with you guys," Téa added quickly.

"Yeah, I guess," said Bakura, non-enthusiastically.

"If you get bored go outside and er… see what you can find to do," said Téa.

The tour guide cut in again, "We are nearing Circular Quay. All passengers getting off at this stop, could you please make your way to the front of the boat. Circular Quay is.."

Yugi said brightly, "This is us!"

The group moved towards the front of the boat as it pulled into the wharf as well as a large crowd of people. Joey and Tristan raced towards the front of the boat, eager to get off the ferry and see what Circular Quay was like. Bakura and Serenity (no coupling intended) followed in a more civilised way and Yugi, Téa, and Mai brought up the rear.

/Why don't you come out for a sec/

/I don't come out for no reason/

/Too bad/

The Millenium puzzle flashed for a moment and Yami stood in Yugi's place.

/Yugi/

Nearby a young child of about 5 was jumping up and down excitedly. When the child's mother caught up with the child he darted sideways crashing into Téa. Téa, caught by surprise lurched sideways, into Yami. Yami managed to catch her, his quick instincts taking a hand. Téa's blue eyes met his violet ones. Téa struggled upright seeing Yami watching her concernedly. She blushed and said slightly breathlessly, "Thanks."

"You OK hon?" asked Mai with a slight smirk on her face.

Téa brushed her skirt down. "Yeah I'm fine. I just got caught off guard," she said, smiling nervously. Téa took a wobbling step forward. For some reason her legs didn't seem to be working properly. Her legs gave way but she found herself being steadied by Yami.

"You seem pretty shaken up, I'll help you along," he said. He held out his arm to Téa.

Téa's stomach lurched uncomfortably and she tried hard not to blush. She steadied herself on Yami's arm and continued to hold on the all the way to the front of the boat.

* * *

Well that's it for the first chapter. Please review! 


	3. At the Markets

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! (well duh) I also don't own Paddy's Markets or any other places I mention in this chapter.  
  
Inwe: How are you guys? Well anyway. Thanks for the reviews! I appreciate them really! I promise it will get more exciting after this chapter is over (I hope). By the way its set it actual places in Sydney (Australia.) I live in Australia just so you know! And another thing, there is a reason why I only signed the letter with Jonothan. So that clears that up!  
  
Chapter 2: Market time!  
  
The group stood in a circle on the pier. Téa was holding their map trying to find a bus route that would take them to Chinatown (~Paddy's Markets is nearby to those who don't live in Sydney, which is probably most of you~). The excited chattering of the small crowd around them was unbelievebly loud considering it could still be heard over the foghorns of ships and the engines of cars on the highway nearby. The skyscrapers towered above them. The sun was shining brightly down on the group and the heat was nothing like they were used to in Domino.  
  
"Wow, dey're not kiddin' when dey say dat Australia is always sunny," Joey said stratching the back of his neck uncomfortably.  
  
"Joey, I told you it would be hot, why did you wear jeans?" asked Serenity.  
  
"I don't ever not wear jeans," said Joey.  
  
"You'd probably wear jeans in the Sahara Desert," joked Tristan.  
  
"Do any of you have a better sense of direction then me?" asked Téa starting to get slightly frustrated because to her the map was nothing but colour coded lines and symbols pointing nowhere.  
  
"Probably," said Yugi (~by the way Yami is back in the soul room~), smiling as he reached up to take the map from Téa, "Where is it that we need to go?"  
  
"Chinatown, but I can't find it!" Téa said.  
  
Yugi scanned the map quickly and found what Téa had failed in finding.  
  
"Right here," he said pointing to a spot on the map.  
  
"How do you do that?" asked Téa in mock annoyance.  
  
"Are we going to get on this bus or not?" asked Mai impatiently.  
  
"Sure, sure. One leaves in 5 minutes from the Circular Quay stop. So we'll be doing the sight seeing later," said Téa as she turned to start walking.  
  
The gang began to walk towards the stop, following Téa. On the way they were continually stopped by the buskers putting on shows and playing instruments, all of them asking for money.  
  
"Don't these people understand that we need to do things without them pestering us nonstop?" asked Mai, as impatiently as before.  
  
Joey was avoiding Mai's eyes, as he said darkly, "Probably not."  
  
"Excuse me sir but would you like to try the new blueberry Thirst Quencher? Its packed with all the vitamins and minerals of.." said a middle-aged man coming to talk to them holding a box of blue drinks.  
  
The whole group completely ignored him. The bus should be arriving in about a minute! There was always the chance of it being late but as Téa had said earlier, "It's to be safe then sorry!"  
  
Finally the gang reached to stop. Luckily the bus hadn't come yet. It had taken them 5 minutes just to walk 100 metres along the wharf. The heat was becoming less unbearable as the day wore on to the afternoon. A slight sea breeze was picking up and lapping of water was added to the many sounds of the Quay.  
  
***********************************************************  
  
On the bus at last the gang was deep in conversation about the party.  
  
"I've been meaning to ask you guys. Why did the letter get signed with just Jonothan? It was a formal letter with a casual end," asked Mai, hoping that someone would know what she didn't.  
  
Everyone shook their heads until Bakura spoke, "I've heard that the computer company that organised this event is led by a man called Stephano Craine. His assitant is a mysterious man who no one, not even him knows the surname of. It caused some sort of outrage in the press but Jonothan has stayed on. He still only signs documents with Jonothan."  
  
"Man, how do you know all these things Bakura?" asked Tristan. He was sitting next to Serenity, much to Joey's annoyance.  
  
"Just a little thing called the newspaper, Tristan," said Bakura.  
  
The discussion continued much in this way for the rest of the trip.  
  
"How's Yami enjoying this?" Téa asked Yugi, blushing slightly.  
  
"I don't know really. Why don't you ask him yourself?" Yugi asked tactfully.  
  
"Oh no, that's OK, just wondering that's all," said Téa quickly. She didn't know how well she'd be able to keep herself together if she became face to face with him at this moment.  
  
***********************************************************  
  
Paddy's markets was full of tourists looking for souvenirs, people from around the area looking for cheap market place bargains and the stall keepers looking for customers. The noise in here was also loud, the wails of children as they didn't get what they wanted, the worried shouting of mothers and fathers trying to find their children and the clinking of coins as they were passed from hand to hand. In the midst of it all stood Téa, Yugi, Joey, Mai, Bakura, Tristan and Serenity.  
  
"Er.. so where do we start?" asked Joey.  
  
"You don't start anywhere. Just look around!" said Mai staring at the different stalls as though she was eager to start.  
  
"Well I'll be outside if any one wants me!" said Joey pulling Tristan after him.  
  
"I'd like to stay here for a while Joey!" said Tristan struggling out of his grip.  
  
"Why, so you can hang around with my sister? That's exactly why I'm dragging you away!" Joey said so only Tristan could hear.  
  
"Hello miss, could I interest you in this lovely woven purse? It costs only $5.50 and its an absolute bargain!" said a woman in the nearby stall, holding out a small purse to Téa.  
  
A headband caught her eye on the same stall and she moved towards it in interest. It was in the same style as the purse.  
  
"How much is this?" Téa asked.  
  
"Ah, that little headband was imported from overseas. I afraid it cost you about $8.00," said the woman. Then she added trying to make a sale "But is a bargain for quality of product."  
  
"Oh no, that's alright," said Téa regretfully.  
  
She moved back to the group.  
  
"Well I'll be looking around if any one wants me," said Mai moving off towards a stall selling Australian merchandise.  
  
"I'll come too!" said Serenity following her.  
  
"Count me in," said Tristan, trying to make a good impression.  
  
Joey scowled but didn't say anything.  
  
"I guess I'll go too," said Téa walking towards the others.  
  
That left Yugi, Joey and Bakura.  
  
"We might as well join in!" said Bakura.  
  
Yugi and Joey nodded. Joey walked off and Yugi turned to leave as well. Then he heard a voice,  
  
//Yugi?//  
  
/Yes?/  
  
//Where are we?//  
  
/Paddy's Markets. Would you like to see it more closely?/  
  
//Alright//  
  
The Millenium Puzzle glowed briefly which left Yami standing there. He turned and saw Téa looking at the souvenirs and smiling. She looked so.. so.. He shook is head to clear his thoughts.  
  
"Excuse me, sir?"  
  
Yami turned to see the source of the voice. It was the same lady that had owned the headband. She beckoned him towards her.  
  
"That girl.. who she?" she asked quietly.  
  
"That's my friend, Téa," he said.  
  
"Friend?" the woman asked in surprise, "Well never mind. Would you like this headband?"  
  
"Oh no sorry, I'm not buying," Yami said cautiously.  
  
"Oh no, no, not buy. I give to you!" said the woman pressing the headband into his hands.  
  
"Oh.. thanks," Yami said reluctantly.  
  
"Give to nice girl over there!" she said winking. She pushed him away, "Now go!"  
  
***********************************************************  
  
Inwe: Well there you have the next chapter. Hehe cliffhanger! Will he give her the headband? Or will he be too embarrassed? Find out next time on 'Shadow of Reality!' Sorry if I took a little while in updating but, hey! At least its done now! I had so much homework!!! (*Stupid school*). Well anyway the end of the chapter isn't as good as I hoped, but I think I had slight writer's block. Please review or I'll.. or I'll.. just review OK? 


	4. Dreams

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!  
  
Well hellooooo everyone! Go all the reviewers! I'm a little insane after seeing the cutest pics of Joey and Mai in the Doom Arc! After they duel and Joey loses his soul and all. In Australia we are deprived and got up to 95 before before they started the whole thing again! We are having epi 13 on Saturday. Back to the chapter... er... it's skipped ahead a little in time, that's about it... so yeah... enjoy!  
  
P.S Sorry for the delay! (*cough, cough, homework*)  
  
Chapter 3: Dreams  
  
The milky white walls gleamed and she could hear a steady dripping from an unknown source. She was running through the endless labyrinth of passageways. Hopelessly lost she sank to the ground in defeat. The ground suddenly opened beneath her and she found herself falling, falling. She caught a fleeting glimpse of someone's hand and then...  
  
Téa's eyes flew open and she bolted upright. It took a little while to get her dazed self's bearings. She realised where she was. In the hotel room where they were staying for the time they were in Sydney. It was still slightly dark outside but it seemed to be on the verge of sunrise. Téa got up and walked to the window. The reflection of rising sun danced on the crystal blue sea. The room was deathly quiet. Téa wandered back to her bed but didn't try to sleep. Instead she reached for the cabinet beside her bed. She knew that the hotel provided guides for all of Sydney's landmarks so she wanted to know what they could do around the place. As she was pulling the book out her hand brushed something else. She pulled it out along with the travel guide. Of course. It was the headband. (~No I didn't neglect it~) She smiled and remembered what had happened the previous afternoon.  
  
*Flashback*  
  
"Téa?"  
  
Téa had turned to see Yugi. Was it Yugi? No... It was the more dark mysterious side of him. Yami... She had felt the heat rising in her cheeks and had tried desperately to stop herself from blushing outright.  
  
"Y... yes?" she had said, her voice catching in her throat.  
  
Yami had made a gesture with his hand. Téa had looked down and had seen him holding the headband she had been looking at earlier. She had had no idea what to do.  
  
"Did you buy it? But I didn't know you had much money," she had blurted out. She had realised immediately how stupid she must have sounded and the blush she had been fighting to keep under control flared up suddenly.  
  
"I didn't buy it! The lady over there gave it to me and said to give it to you," Yami had said, still holding it out. Téa hadn't noticed it, but he too was blushing, but very slightly so it was barely noticeable.  
  
Téa had taken it, but had been very careful not to let their hands touch. (~Ripped of "Ashling" in the Obernewtyn Chronicles...~)  
  
"Thanks," she had said slightly breathlessly...  
  
*End Flashback*  
  
With a groan Téa realised how stupid she must have sounded and looked to Yami. She wished fervently she could go five minutes around him without embarrassing herself.  
  
***********************************************************  
  
Some one in a different room was also dreaming. It was Yugi...  
  
He found himself chasing someone that he couldn't quite make out through an endless labyrinth of passageways. He wasn't sure how he knew but he knew it was his Yami having the adventure and not him. He ran after the unknown person until he saw the figure slow and stop. He ran faster using this chance to catch up with them. As he reached them the figure tumbled through a hole that had apparently appeared out of nowhere. He reached out his hand...  
  
***********************************************************  
  
Everyone was awake now. They had decided to have a relatively quiet day for later the big party would be on later that night. Mai had already planned for herself, Téa and Serenity to go out shopping before lunch. They were already out, the sun not as harsh as the day before, but still hot nonetheless. (~I've lived in Australia my whole life and I still find the summer's boiling~) They were in the middle of the city and were looking around eagerly. Nothing special was going on, and it was just the usual crowd that crowded the walkways. They passed a game's shop selling the duel monsters game.  
  
"Yami would enjoy it here," Tea thought absent-mindedly, "Why am I thinking like this?" Tea thought she knew the answer but pushed the idea out of her mind. She was wearing the headband he had given her.  
  
"Tea?" Mai asked impatiently  
  
"Yes?" Tea answered.  
  
"Finally, you're listening, now I was trying to ask you if you wanted to go into this shop," Mai repeated pointing to a shop selling CDs.  
  
"What? Oh right yeah," Tea said, still not paying complete attention.  
  
"Do Sydney people have different tastes in music to us?" Serenity asked not really addressing anyone in particular.  
  
Tea's hand moved unconsciously up to her headband. Mai and Serenity noticed.  
  
"I wish someone who really cared about me would give me a gift," Mai thought wistfully. A certain blond-haired 'knucklehead' interrupted her thoughts. Mai frowned and shook the 'knucklehead' (~let's all guess who it is~) out of her thoughts.  
  
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Did you like? Er... sorry that this chapter is sooooo short! Couldn't really think of anything to write more... so it's not all that great. Next chapter will be the duellist party! Hopefully I'll get to the Action/Adventure soon... I'm starting to bore myself. I think it will start next chapter or the chapter after that! If you don't review my story my lovely assistant Invisible Presence B will... take a bow B! Alright then back to your punishment... he will er... you'll find out if you don't review! *hint, hint* Oh and by the way if I didn't say it before... thankyou reviewers!!!!!!!!! 


	5. So it Begins

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! *scowl*  
  
Inwe: Hello my friends! This chapter is longer than the others 'cause it'll be more interesting... I hope. OMG! I found the cutest pics on the internet of Yami and Tea. They have to spend like 8 episodes together... I know I said I found the cutest pics of Joey and Mai but now I can't choose... *sigh* they'll probably cut it out in the BEEEPin dub version. Oh well... This chapter is the duellist party... and *drumroll* the beginning of the Action/Adventure! I have an OC character for the evil dude!  
  
P.S Kaiba's in this chapter. ^_~  
  
Chapter 4: So it begins.  
  
Tea stepped back and had one last look in the mirror. She was quite happy with what she saw and grinned at her reflection. She straightened her headband one last time and turned away. Someone knocked at the door.  
  
"Come in!" Tea said.  
  
The smiling face of Serenity popped around the door.  
  
"Tea? Everyone's ready to go now," said Serenity.  
  
"Alright, I'm ready," Tea said moving away from the mirror and towards Serenity.  
  
As the two came into the lobby, Mai's mobile phone rang. She picked it up and...  
  
"Hello, Mai? This is Duke Devlin. I was wondering if I could..."  
  
"Speak with Serenity?" asked Mai mockingly.  
  
"Um... if you don't mind," he said, slightly embarrassed.  
  
Mai handed the phone do Serenity. Serenity gave her a quizzical look and Mai mouthed, "Duke." Serenity picked up the phone. From across the room, Joey gave here the same puzzled look. Mai pretended not to notice and turned away. (~*sniff* that bit was so lame~)  
  
*************************************************************  
  
"Everyone settle down please!" shouted a voice over the loudspeaker.  
  
The crowd fell silent. Tea could see the audience craning their necks to see who the voice belonged to. Her eyes rested on a certain person she knew quite well. Seto Kaiba. He was sitting at a table with Mokuba, and a man that Tea didn't know. She supposed the man was some kind of person working for Kaiba Corp. The look on Kaiba's face wasn't as smug as it used to be, but he looked over-confident nonetheless. He looked around and caught Tea's eye. The voice began again,  
  
"Thank you! Now all of you are top duellists in your country, or some of you the world."  
  
Joey turned and grinned at Yugi, who smiled as well.  
  
"Like you," he said encouragingly.  
  
Mai nudged Joey,  
  
"Or you," she said warmly without a trace of embarrassment. Joey blushed and grinned sheepishly back at her.  
  
"...And you have been invited here today to honour this fact..."  
  
Tea caught sight of a face in the crowd. It looked annoyingly familiar... it was Marik. He was smirking as if the comment of world famous duellists had been made directly to him.  
  
"...But we would like to extend special congratulations towards the finalists of our most recent tournament, Battle City! Could the finalists we have here please stand up?"  
  
Yugi stood up blushing at the attention that was being paid to him. He was followed by Mai and Joey who jumped up at the same time. Bakura soon stood up, grinning sheepishly because he knew he didn't exactly belong here. Ishizu stood up, with her usual mysterious and dreamy look on her face. Marik stood up, still smirking in the same manner. Finally Kaiba stood up, folding his arms across his chest.  
  
The crowd applauded and cheered the finalists. Yugi's blush increased as most of the eyes turned on him; after all he was the winner. The applause gradually thinned out.  
  
"Congratulations to all of you Battle City finalists! Now would you please all sit down? Thanks to Craine Computers Inc. we have organised a special surprise! But to announce this, I bring you Mr. Craine himself!"  
  
A very short and slightly plump man is his middle years stepped out onto the stage while a polite applause reverberated around the room. His eyes were kind as he spoke,  
  
"Hello duelists! We have organised a special treat for you all! My company has been developing a special program to allow duelists, and later aspiring duelists to develop their dueling skills."  
  
The man's eyes shone as he spoke of his dream.  
  
"So, we decided to organise a special get-together to test the game! You must combine your group with two others. Afterwards you must sign up as a team and you will be taken to the pods. While in the game you must duel against monsters and other teams to come out as the top group."  
  
The chattering began as the audience organised themselves into their groups. Some found it easier than others and grabbed some friends, while others had come by themselves and waited patiently for someone to ask them into a group.  
  
Our gang didn't move. They were already in a group, they all agreed silently.  
  
"But before we let you in, we must discuss the rules. First of all..."  
  
*************************************************************  
  
Craine stood watching the groups as they moved towards the pod rooms. He was smiling at the sight of all the excited duellists.  
  
"Finally, my company has done something worthwhile," he said quietly to himself.  
  
Then he spoke in a very different, rasping voice, "Yes, take Millennium Items from their owners."  
  
"No!" he moaned in his first voice.  
  
"Yes! You are going to sabotage the pods of little Yugi Motou and his dear friends. Send them to my pre-prepared virtual world. I guarantee that we will have one soon!" the voice said menacingly.  
  
"I can't let you! This is supposed to be for the benefit of duellists!" his first voice spoke in a quavering voice.  
  
"If you won't do it then I guess I'll have to take over!" the second voice said.  
  
Craine's body convulsed horribly and he moaned softly. The duellists walking around didn't notice, they were too wrapped up in their own affairs.  
  
*************************************************************  
  
Each member of the gang settled themselves in their own pod. They were in the first batch of duellists. Each room had nine pods but their group only had seven, Yugi, Joey, Bakura, Tristan, Serenity, Mai and herself. Mai hadn't brought along anyone, she said that she had no real other friends beside the group. When she had said this, she smiled slightly as she looked around the group. As her eyes rested on Joey, her grin had broadened. A man was controlling how they would go into the game. He turned on the pods. They lit up and everyone's excitement increased. Then without warning another man strode into the room. It was Mr. Craine. He looked more proud and stiff then the Craine they had seen earlier.  
  
"I'll take it from here. I can't let anyone mess these up. This is a very important group with three Battle City finallists," he said in his rasping way, his voice full of authority.  
  
"Yes, Mr. Craine, sir," said the man at the controls. He bowed his head slightly, and moved away.  
  
Craine took his own place at the controls. He pressed a couple of buttons. Tea could have sworn she saw a mad glint in his eye. He pulled down one final lever, and everyone instinctively shut their eyes tight. They all heard one final voice,  
  
"Separate the two..."  
  
Yugi shivered at the comment, but could find no logical explanation for it. They all felt a jolt and a rush of power as they were swept away from the real world. Yugi felt like he was being torn in two. (~I wonder why?~) Then blackness.  
  
*************************************************************  
  
Tea opened her eyes slowly in the virtual world. Through a confused haze she could have sworn she saw an extra figure standing close to Yugi. She shook her head and blinked. The figure didn't disappear.  
  
"Yugi? Joey? Tristan? Serenity? Mai? Bakura?" she called out softly, "Is anyone there?"  
  
She heard a chorus of groans coming from spaces around her. They were all there. Then she recognised the voice of... Yami?  
  
"I think there's something wrong... I sense an evil here."  
  
Tea struggled upright and stood up. She could see every one else doing the same. And then...  
  
"Yami? How could you be here?" Yugi asked in bewilderment.  
  
*************************************************************  
  
Inwe: Heheh... I wasn't supposed to end it there... It was supposed to be later, but I'm sure you'll all live with it... I am so sorry about the slow update... what? It's been nearly a month?! Oh *%@$ I'm sorry about that... I had a big school assignment... I'm finished now. But anyway, please review! 


	6. Get a Grip!

Disclaimer: If I were Kazuki Takahashi then I would own Yu-Gi-Oh! But I'm not.  
  
Inwe: Hello! You may have noticed my change of pen name, but my other one wasn't very original. I tried to update as soon as I could but now we've got an SRP (Science Research Project) to work on as well... It's not my fault I swear! Anyway... I'm going to make sure this seriously is longer! I know you all hate me for making you wait and then... these 1,300 word chapters... Reviewers, I am really sorry! Thanks for reviewing me! But moving on... This is kinda just them getting their bearings in the virtual world. Yeah, so enjoy!  
  
P.S. There is a lot of Action/Adventure in this chappie.  
  
Chapter 5: Get a Grip! (~after all my titles I finally came up with this one~)  
  
"Yami, how could you be here?" Yugi asked in bewilderment.  
  
"I...I don't know Yugi," the said person replied, sounding equally bewildered, "Can the others see me?"  
  
Yami's eyes flicked around the group. It was still dim and he couldn't make out the expressions on their faces.  
  
"Y...yami?" Téa stuttered. As her eyes adjusted she could see him more clearly then before. As much as she could deny it, Yami Yugi really did have his own body.  
  
"Yami? Wha...? How could he be...?" Joey said loudly, "Am I goin' crazy?"  
  
Yami looked from Yugi to himself, his expression unchanging. A long silence followed, during which the darkness began to thin out. In the changing light their surrounding were revealed to them. A faint mist floated around the gang, but through all this they could see they were standing on some kind of rocky plateau. On three of the sides the plateau stretched out as far as the eye could see. On the final side, after about hundred metres, the cliff fell away in a sheer drop. No wildlife at all could be heard, so the silence was strangely eerie.  
  
"Well, I guess we should try to find out about where we are..." Bakura said matter-of-factly, trying to break the silence.  
  
Everyone's attention jerked away from Yami and Yugi. They took in what they were seeing around them. The sky was ridiculously blue, and the rocks beneath their feet looked perfect. They were obviously the flaws of this virtual world. But the mist still lingered around their ankles.  
  
/Yami?/ The voice through the soul room sounded stunned.  
  
//Yes, Aibou?//  
  
/How did this happen? How were we... separated?/  
  
//I don't understand much either... It must have had something to do with Craine. I sensed evil aura coming from him.//  
  
Téa finally spoke, her voice slightly shaky, "I think we should get moving, I mean we need to move if we're going to win, don't we?" She smiled shakily.  
  
"Téa's right," Yami said and Téa felt a shiver down her spine, "We should find out more about this place, if we want to win."  
  
"Alright! No group's gonna be a match for us!" Joey practically shouted enthusiastically.  
  
"Well, alright you heard the man, let's go!" Mai said, sounding slightly different to her usual self.  
  
Yugi, Tristan, Bakura and Serenity nodded in agreement. The gang bolted towards the cliff face, all of them slightly over-enthusiastic. They all stopped abruptly at the edge. The drop from the top was unbelievably high, the distance between the top and bottom seemed to keep going and going. Joey resisted the urge to shout something and see how long in took for the echo to bounce back. He didn't think Mai would appreciate it very much. He grinned sheepishly to himself at the thought.  
  
Despite the dizzy feeling that overcame them as they looked down, they needed to find a way off the cliff. A narrow ledge ran across the wall a short way down. It traversed its way down the wall as far as the eye could see. This was their best chance to find a way down. But were they prepared to risk falling? Téa gaped at the distance down and took a step back. Yami's strategic mind was calculating whether or not it was possible to get down safely. Serenity followed Téa's actions and Tristan merely stared. Yugi was watching his hikari and Bakura seemed to be gathering all his courage together. Mai refused to let herself look flustered and from the outside it looked like she was perfectly calm and collected. Joey rearranged his face into what he clearly thought was a courageous one.  
  
"I think it's possible to get down," Yami said finally, "It will be difficult, but it's a chance."  
  
"What if we fall?" Téa said anxiously.  
  
Yami gave her a small smile of encouragement and Téa's stomach flipped over. "We'll be fine, Téa," he said, with the faintest trace of warmness in his voice. Téa gave him a small nod.  
  
**********************************************************  
  
Each member of the group was holding onto the cliff edge for dear life. While actually on the ledge, the drop looked even more menacing. Every now and then one of them would look down and would feel their heads spin. They knew that if they slipped once, they would almost surely fall to their deaths. Or their virtual deaths, who knows if they could die in this world? It wasn't a pleasant feeling, really. The first to stumble was Mai. She was walking behind Joey and made a miscalculation of where to put her foot. One of the rocks underneath her feet crumbled and she grabbed at the wall in blind terror. It all happened in slow motion, as Joey reached out frantically and grabbed for her hand. Somehow her feet were still on the ledge, even though her hands had lost their grip. Her hand connected with Joey's and he hauled her upwards. He was standing on a thicker part of the ledge; there was enough standing room for both him and Mai. They crashed into the wall together, Mai on top of Joey. They both sat there, dazed, for a couple of moments, panting heavily.  
  
When Mai got her wits about her, she stood up abruptly, hiding her face from Joey's. (~I've got awful writer's block so...~) "Thanks... Joey..." she muttered, just loud enough for him to hear.  
  
Joey's face fell slightly but he recovered and said, "No problem, you would have done de same. Wouldn't you?"  
  
Mai avoided Joey's eyes, scared that his own eyes would make her falter. She nodded, saying, "Of course."  
  
Joey impulsively grabbed her shoulder and pulled her back round to face him. He opened his mouth to say something when...  
  
"We'd better keep moving! We need to get down before it gets dark!" a voice called from someway along the ledge. Joey and Mai's heads snapped sideways and Joey pulled his hand away quickly. (~I love doing that! *manic laugh*~)  
  
***********************************************************  
  
Meanwhile, closer towards the bottom, Téa was having her own problems. If she had known that they'd be climbing and traversing across cliff faces, she wouldn't have worn a skirt. Her concentration wasn't as full as it could have been.  
  
"Are you alright back there, Téa?" Yami called back.  
  
Téa's concentration faltered completely. She couldn't help it! Like Mai, her foot missed its mark. She put her foot down on thin air... but found nothing to place it on. It happened so fast that even Yami's quick reflexes were fast enough to save her. Her surprise made her lose the grip she had on the rocks and... she fell. She plummeted downwards, no rational thought reaching her head, and the only thing coming from her mouth a scream that echoed around the whole valley. The wind whistled as it flew past her, but no words could describe just how terrified she was. Everyone's faces showed the terror they were feeling. Yami looked desperately at the group, looking for a single thing that could help save her. His face showed nothing more than pain. His eyes rested on... Joey's dueling deck. It was a split second decision that saved Téa's life. He pulled his own deck out, cursing his own stupidity for not having thought of it earlier, and shouted,  
  
"I summon the Curse of Dragon!"  
  
A blinding light emitted from the card that Yami held in the air. The golden dragon let out a shrill cry before it raced downwards. Everyone's faces changed from terror to almost relief, but she wasn't safe yet.  
  
The dragon caught up with her falling body and swooped underneath it. With a dull thud, Téa landed on the dragon. She opened her eyes slowly, hoping that she wasn't imagining it all. But the dragon was still there. She almost wept tears of relief. She gripped onto the dragon as it swung back upwards, towards the rest of the gang.  
  
Téa slid off the dragon's back, onto the ledge. Her legs could not support her and she collapsed. Her last sight was Yami's smiling face before she fainted.  
  
***********************************************************  
  
So that was the chapter. Umm... I know there wasn't much YamixTéa; I was concentrating more on JoeyxMai... How was it? Was it long enough? REVIEW ME! *ahem* I promise I would have updated earlier if I could... blame to teachers at SGHS! I guess that's what you get when you go to a Selective High... *scowl* -_-"I'm not really angry! I never really do get angry... And by the way, I agreed to do this so... read Luthien-Anwaman's 'The New Tournament'. It's Romance/Action/Adventure and the couples are *drumroll*: YamixTéa (^_^), JoeyxMai (^_^) and SetoxSerenity! It's 23 chapters long, about 37000 words long and has 165 reviews. So until next chapter... Farewell! 


	7. Not Quite Peaceful

Inwe: So... another chapter! Don't blame me for my unoriginality in the previous chapter. Thank you so much for the reviews! I have 50! This chap is ahead in time, but I'll explain what happened earlier during the chapter. BTW, kai4eva90, you asked some questions. First of all, she fainted because she nearly killed herself and all, so she was kind of a little shocked. Second of all, I thought I explained that Yami saved her life by activating the card at the last moment. If you remember the RPG arc (eps 43-45) then you'll know about how this works.  
  
P.S A lot of the words I'm using I got from the thesaurus...  
  
Chapter 6: Not Quite Peaceful  
  
The fire crackled warmly in the crisp night air. Occasionally sparks would fly out of the blaze, so no one wanted to sit too close to the fire. On a night like this there would ordinarily be a large assortment of sounds from various cricket species, but this was no ordinary world. A vast pile of brushwood and tree branches sat close beside the fire, but most of it probably wouldn't be used. The gang had set up camp on the edge of a forest. They had no camping supplies, so they had to make do with sleeping on the ground. Fortunately, there were no bumps in the ground; the virtual world was too perfect for that. The trees on the borderline of the forest stood in a repeated pattern, a stubby one, a tall one, an enormous one, a middle-sized, then another stubby one.  
  
Not that any of the gang noticed this; they were deep in conversation with each other. Well, Mai was on the border between sleep and waking, apparently more towards the sleeping side; she seemed oblivious to the fact that her head had drooped left onto Joey's shoulder. Joey was obviously doing his best to ignore this fact, staring straight ahead. But you could tell his concentration wasn't 'all there', as the answers he gave were merely one or two word answers. Tristan found it particularly hilarious. It was his idea of a joke to say something along the lines of,  
  
"Hey Joey, would you mind if I gave your Red Eyes back to Rex Raptor?"  
  
Joey nodded and muttered, "Mmmm..." in reply.  
  
"Alright, you asked for it!" Tristan walked over to Joey and reached down for his deck. Joey snapped out of his trance,  
  
"Hey, what the hell are you doin' dat for?" he said in an only moderately loud, but very irritated tone.  
  
"Nothing," Tristan answered in an innocent voice, raising his eyebrows to add to the effect, "You just said I could give your Red Eyes back to Rex Raptor! So I thought..."  
  
Joey jumped up, forgetting about Mai completely for a second. "Tristan! Wipe dat smirk off your face! I didn' say dat you could take it! How..."  
  
Unfortunately for him, he had forgotten Mai. And she didn't look too happy, too put it mildly,  
  
"Joseph Wheeler!"  
  
But he wasn't the only one that was out of it. Téa was re-enacting what had happened earlier, in her mind, trying to understand what was going on.  
  
*Flashback*  
  
Téa woke to find herself resting on the body of... what was it? The body gleamed gold as the sunlight reflected off it. The light was dazzling, after spending ten minutes in darkness. Her vision was still been blurred, but somehow she could see... two Yugis? Her mind sluggishly put together the details. Recognition flooded over her. Of course. Yugi and Yami had separate bodies.  
  
She made a soft moaning sound as she struggled upright into a sitting position. Yugi turned at this.  
  
"You alright now, Téa?" he asked.  
  
Téa shook her head vigorously. A sharp pain jolted through her head and she grimaced in pain.  
  
"I'm fine..." she said, her voice just above a whisper.  
  
She looked around to see where the others were, suddenly becoming aware that no one was behind her, and only Yami and Yugi were in front, side by side. A dragon even bigger than the one she was riding on was beside her, with its ash black body and luminous red eyes. Joey was controlling this dragon, showing off quite a bit. The dragon wheeled around and dived, glided, then soared back upwards. Mai was on the same dragon, she seemed to be half-laughing, but at the same time she was screaming,  
  
"JOSEPH! STOP THIS INSTANT!"  
  
Tristan, Serenity and Bakura were on the last dragon, a smaller blue one, with a more comical face. Téa turned back to Yugi, but found that he had looked away, and Yami was there instead.  
  
"I think you should move closer to Yugi and I, just so you don't slip off," he said in his resonant tone.  
  
Téa suddenly became aware of how close she was to falling off the back of the dragon. With no wish to fall again, she slid closer, now looking every where but into Yami's eyes. Those piercing violet eyes somehow always made her feel like he could look into her thoughts.  
  
"Thank you," she said abruptly, remembering what had happened earlier.  
  
"It's my pleasure, Téa," he said, and Téa felt her stomach do a kind of complicated backflip.  
  
The beast flew on. Yugi was still in control of the dragon and the thrill of riding the dragon had worn off. Suddenly there came a cry from below,  
  
"I think we should land here! It looks safe!" Bakura shouted.  
  
"OK! You guys OK with dat?" Joey shouted back, directed the last part towards Yugi, Yami and Tea.  
  
"Right!" Yugi yelled back.  
  
First Tristan, Serenity and Bakura dropped downwards, then Joey and Mai, lastly Yugi, Yami and Tea. The drop was sudden, and it took Tea by surprise. She had the horrible feeling she was going to fall and gripped her hands around Yami's waist, shutting her eyes tight.  
  
*End Flashback*  
  
Her thoughts stopped there. She looked around the group, last of all her eyes falling on Yami, sitting across from her. The conversation suddenly changed and a question was directed at her by Serenity,  
  
"Tea, I wanted to ask you before, how are you feeling?"  
  
Tea looked down as all the attention was turned to her. The gaze that flustered her most was...Yami's. (~*gasp*~)  
  
*********************************************************************  
  
Craine swore loudly. (~*insert swear word here*~) Nothing was going to plan. Yet.  
  
"Stop this madness!" moaned a voice from inside Craine's head.  
  
"Never!" he said back in his grating voice, "I must gain the Millennium Puzzle! We must have a Millennium item of our own!"  
  
"Why? Why must it be the Millennium Puzzle? And why must you turn this into a search for the items? This game was supposed to help people, not hurt them!" whimpered the voice, this time speaking out loud.  
  
"Yugi's item is the most important to me! The most powerful duellist in the world is bound to have the most powerful item!"  
  
"Why must you do this? It won't work! You need to win it in a duel!" spoke the first voice.  
  
"I know that you fool! I will duel the spirit of the Puzzle! First I will take out his friends... and loved ones and force him to duel me! In his own body he will be able to feel real, complex emotion. He will be too stricken by grief to duel at his best, and I will have the Puzzle!" grated the second voice.  
  
"Y-you're mad! You can't!"  
  
"Oh, believe me, I can!"  
  
*********************************************************************  
  
Yami was watching everyone speak, feeling rather uncomfortable. He felt... there wasn't a word to describe it really. He had never been able to just sit and enjoy himself; he was only called upon, normally, for a purpose, usually a duel. He felt kind of... exposed. It was equally strange to see Yugi sitting right next him, they had of course spoken in two different bodies, but that was in the soul room. Everyone seemed content and lively but Yami just felt almost self-conscious. When someone directed a question to him, he would answer politely but with no real emotion involved. And there was something else too, but he couldn't quite think of what it was, maybe...  
  
"Guys? I think we should sleep for the night. Who knows what going to happen tomorrow?" Bakura said loudly, interrupting Joey and Mai's heated argument (~they argue a lot in my fic~) and everyone else's conversation.  
  
*********************************************************************  
  
The group trudged through the wilderness, in the late hours of the morning. None of them could be sure of what the time was, their watches seemed to have malfunctioned. They hadn't met with any danger, and this was strangely unnerving. The forest seemed too dense with trees to travel through there, so they decided to walk around the periphery of the forest until they found a way past. They were now plodding along the banks of a vast lake. As they spent more time in the virtual world, things started to feel more real. The sun was blazing down upon them, they could hear and feel the cool, wet mud squelching beneath their feet and feel the tickling of tree branches as they brushed against them. It was strangely peaceful and everyone seemed to be in a good mood. Well, all except Joey and Mai, who hadn't seemed to have forgotten their argument too quickly.  
  
The two repeatedly threw cold glances at each other, but as the morning wore on, the looks became less cold. The gang walked mainly in silence, there really wasn't much to say, after exhausting their conversation topics the previous night. Time passed fairly slowly, without much of a change in scenery, apart from the occasional tree, bush or rock.  
  
After what seemed like hours they saw another cliff face with a small cave carved into the side. Each of them instinctively moved towards what they thought would probably a place containing shelter.  
  
Tea stepped into the cave first. What she saw made her step back in astonishment.  
  
*********************************************************************  
  
That was the chapter! It was 1700 words long... long enough for you guys? Well, why don't you review? (that's an order, NOT a request) ^_~  
  
P.S. Sorry, I won't be able to update quickly, because I have an assignment due AND I'm going to Queensland... 


	8. The Plot Thickens

Disclaimer: *cheesy TV dude* Yu-Gi-Oh! and all related merchandise is property of Kazuki Takahashi and ... *Inwe shoves him away* Yu-Gi-Oh! is owned by people who aren't me. There!  
  
Inwe: Yay! Another chappie! Yes I know it's a LONG update... but I updated as soon as I could! You see, there was a 42 hour Yu-Gi-Oh marathon on Nick and I just had to watch it. I didn't need to use to thesaurus really, 'cause I learnt so many new words from last chapter. And thank you to the reviewers! BTW, for Cara the Mord Sith's sake, Queensland is in Australia and yes, Craine is my OC.  
  
Chapter 7: The Plot Thickens  
  
Craine was watching the group's progress on a large screen. The room was empty apart from him. "Good," he said out loud, "They've stumbled upon my cave... Everything is going to plan..."  
  
He grinned widely with satisfaction. He looked down to his keyboard controlling the actions on the screen. "Now the second phase of my plan..." He pressed down a series of buttons on the board.  
  
"Certain members of the group will not be able to see what I have placed there. The ones I want to stay... Of course I shall need the 'pharaoh' to stay, he shall not be able to see. To tear him apart more, I shall let his hikari see it, and leave as soon as the prophecy written upon it is fulfilled. I do not need this 'Tristan' to stay, he shall see it. And the holder of the Millennium Ring will not stay either... I still have much to learn about the nature of this Item. Now, who else should I keep...?"  
  
He stared intently at the screen for a moment, his brows furrowed in concentration.  
  
"I shall keep this 'Joey' here. He is a good duellist, it will be interesting to see how he fares when the others have gone. To make his time here more difficult, I shall let his sister see what I have placed in the cave. And to spice things up a bit, I shall keep the girl he is always fighting with... 'Mai' I think it is."  
  
"One more left... Shall she stay... or shall she leave?"  
  
There was a long pause as he considered the choice.  
  
"I should think... stay. The number staying and leaving will be equal then. Very well. Now let's just wait and see how the plot unfolds..."  
  
(~Sorry if that confused any of you guys... Yami, Joey, Mai and Téa are staying and Tristan, Serenity, Yugi and Bakura are leaving~)  
  
************************************************************************  
  
Téa took a step backward in astonishment, her hand covering her mouth. The cave was completely furnished, as if some one lived there. Simultaneously, Yami moved forward, into the cave. He surveyed the room, his expression unchanging. From the outside the cave looked rough, a part of the wilderness. But inside, the place was furnished as if someone had lived there and still lived there. Someone had almost surely been there recently, the fireplace in the corner still contained the cooling embers of the fire and a half filled pot of some kind of stew was still over the fire. Yami glanced at the girl standing beside him. Their eyes met. Téa's eyes were still wide with amazement, her mouth slightly agape in shock. For a reason unknown to Yami felt his face heat up slightly. He looked back into the cave pretending not to have noticed. As his eyes swept the room once more, he lifted his hand and brushed his fingertips fleetingly against his face. The warmth beneath his fingertips felt strange, something that seemed alien to him.  
  
(~Sweet Ra, I can't write romance... to socially immature...~)  
  
His hand fell back to his side as he felt Joey behind him, trying to catch a glimpse of what was inside. He moved aside, allowing the rest of the group to pass through into the cave. He was too deep inside his own thoughts to notice Yugi's exclamation of disbelief. He didn't even notice Joey shouting, "Yuge, what is that?" at a volume loud even for Joey.  
  
But he did notice someone taking hold of his wrist and pulling him forwards. He looked up from the floor, and met Téa's azure eyes once more. Her face was flushed but she didn't release his wrist.  
  
"Yami?" she asked in concern, "You don't seem well... are you feeling OK?"  
  
"It's nothing, Téa... I'm just thinking..." he said, almost vaguely.  
  
Yami felt himself being jolted forwards by the force of Téa's hand. His feet started to move and looked in the direction he was being taken. The rest of the gang were clustered around something that Yugi was holding. They were all saying things like,  
  
"I wonder what it is?" or "Maybe it's got some kinda treasure inside!" or "Doubt it Joey."  
  
These last two comments had come from none other than Joey and Mai. They're fighting had lessened, and become just pointless teasing. It seemed to amuse the others greatly, could those two be any more obvious? (~Not really...^_^~)  
  
"Wait, Téa, what's going on?" he asked, suddenly aware that he had no clue of what was happening.  
  
"I'm not sure, that's why we're going over there to find out," she said with a trace of a smile.  
  
They reached the table. Mai looked around as they approached. She shot an exaggerated look at their hands. Téa let go of Yami's wrist as if Yami's hand had suddenly produced an electric shock. Mai smirked slightly and nudged Joey.  
  
Téa tried to break the awkwardness between her and Yami by saying quickly, "So, Yugi, can I see what it is?"  
  
Yugi held out a small object. It was nothing out of the ordinary really, just a small round box, light brown in colour, with a dull gold clasp.  
  
"I found it over here on the table..." Yugi said.  
  
Yami picked it up and examined it closely. Closer up, he could see something carved into the wood in a strange text. Nothing he could read, but he couldn't help thinking that he'd seen that writing somewhere before. He ran his fingers along the carving and suddenly, the box sprang open.  
  
Inside lay a small sheet of parchment, that still looked new, rolled up and tied with a small mauve ribbon. Yami pulled it out with a renewed interest. He unrolled it and...  
  
It was blank. The parchment was completely and utterly blank. Yami stared at the piece of vacant paper like he had never seen paper before.  
  
Yugi craned his neck to try and see what was going on.  
  
/Yami? What is it?/  
  
//...the paper's completely blank, Yugi.//  
  
/Really? Let me have a look./  
  
Yami passed the parchment over to Yugi. Yugi took it and glanced at it.  
  
/What are you talking about? It's full of writing!/  
  
//What? But when I looked before, it was bare... How can you see it when I can't? I'm not sure Yugi, but something about this place seems wrong... It's as if there is a shadow lurking behind every corner.//  
  
Yugi gave a small shiver at Yami's answer.  
  
/I don't know what's wrong either Yami, but whatever it is... we'll defeat it as a group. Me, you, Joey, Téa, Bakura, Tristan, Serenity and Mai./  
  
Yugi noticed a slight lapse in Yami's concentration at the mention of Téa's name.  
  
//... we will defeat it...//  
  
"Yuge, what's dat ding you're holding?" Joey asked suddenly, breaking Yugi and Yami's conversation. He leant forward and grabbed it from Yugi's hands.  
  
"What's de poin' of dis? It's got noding written on it!" he said, after looking at the parchment back and front.  
  
Tristan caught a glimpse of a couple of words as he peered at it over Joey's shoulder. He snatched it off Joey. "What are you talking about, ya nimrod, there's a ton of writing on it... well, unless you can't read..." he said with a sly grin.  
  
"Tristan! You know I can read! You're seeing dings!" Joey shouted in retaliation.  
  
"Am not!"  
  
"Are too!"  
  
"Am not!"  
  
"Are too!"  
  
"Would you two please stop it!" Téa shouted over the two of them in exasperation, "Let me have a look."  
  
"Fine, you can, then Joey'll see that I'm right," Tristan said, passing the parchment over to Téa.  
  
Téa looked it down, seeing no writing on the front or back, like Joey and Yami. "Tristan, Joey's right, there's nothing of any kind written on the paper."  
  
"WHAT!?!?!?!?!?" Tristan shouted in annoyance, "There is writing there. I saw it!"  
  
"Give it up Tristan. Unless it's written in ink that vanishes when anybody but you sees it, you're making it up." Joey said smugly.  
  
"Big brother? May I see it please?" asked a small voice in a polite manner.  
  
Joey, Tristan and Téa turned to face Serenity, who was standing behind them, with an angelic smile on her face. Before Joey or Téa could say a thing, Tristan seized the parchment from Téa and passed it to Serenity.  
  
"Thanks Tristan," Serenity said with a sweet smile.  
  
Tristan went red. Serenity took a quick look at the parchment and said quietly, "Joey, I can see writing..."  
  
Mai had been watching the scene before her with amusement. "Kids, I will have a look and tell you what I see. Maybe that will clear all this up."  
  
Serenity passed the parchment silently over to Mai.  
  
************************************************************************  
  
Inwe: How was that? It wasn't much of a cliffhanger... Review please! Sorry reviewers, I won't be updating for a while 'cause I've got my half- yearly exams (Yay! *sarcasm, sarcasm*) coming up and I promised my mum I'd lay off Fanfiction for a while... :( Heh... I wasn't even supposed to write this chapter... 


	9. Shadows

**

* * *

**

Disclaimer: Don't own anything, I don't even have a job, how could I?!  
  
**Inwe:** Thank you reviewers! I love you all!! :D I didn't update for ages (three months... was it?) so I came prepared with a list of reasons why I have a slow update.   
1. My computer broke down and we had to get it fixed   
2. I lost my thumb drive where all my stuff was saved   
3. I had homework I broke my leg... All better now!   
4. I'm bored of this story   
5. I write too slowly :P   
6. My muse ran away! He's back now though...   
All _very _good reasons. Yeah. ON WITH THE STORY!! ::CHEERS!!::  
  
**Chapter 8: Shadows  
**  
"This is happening fast enough!" Craine shouted furiously as he watched the gang curl up to sleep, "They're not scared... they're not panicking... unless..."  
  
Craine's mouth stretched into a twisted grin at what he was thinking. "I could call upon the shadows. They are already leaking in. I would hurt to..."  
  
He pressed a button, "...speed up the process..."  
  
Craine's possessed laughter filled the empty room again.  
  
"Noooo..." Craine's eyes had flickered into the soft eyes of his other personality.  
  
"Sorry, but this must be done!!" his eyes losing all traces of the softness it had possessed a moment before.

* * *

Téa shivered and brought her knees closer to her chest. It was night again, and somehow, everyone had managed to fall asleep on the cold, hard ground. Except for Téa. The virtual world spooked her and she had started to notice something about the place. Out of the corner of her eyes she could see creeping shadows, swirling, spiralling around. But when she looked directly at them, they were gone.  
  
It was freezing, the fire had long since burnt out, and she could find absolutely no position on the ground that was comfortable. No matter what way she lay rocks stuck into her back, or twigs felt like they were drilling into the back of her skull. It didn't make sense when she thought about how perfect and even the ground was last night. The virtual world seemed to be getting to all of them. She couldn't even comprehend how the rest of them had dozed off so peacefully.  
  
Finally admitting defeat, she sat up. Absentmindedly prodding the dead coals of the fire with one of the twigs she had been lying on, she reminisced on what had happened at the cave.  
  
flashback  
  
"I hate to admit it, but the knucklehead is right," Mai said, still staring at the parchment that had caused so much annoyance.  
  
"Of _course_ I'm right. Dat's what I've been tryin' to tell you all!" Joey exclaimed.  
  
"Either half of us are hallucinating, or there's something going on here..." Téa said, looking at the parchment over Mai's shoulder.  
  
"Bakura, what do _you_ see?" Serenity asked.  
  
Bakura came closer and looked at the parchment. "I see writing, all over the page," he said softly and retreated back into his corner.  
  
Yugi spoke up for the first time, "Look, guys, I can see it... and Yami can't, so there's an equal number on each side. We'll never resolve this. So, what does the parchment say? Has anyone bothered to read it?"  
  
Tristan grabbed the parchment from Mai.  
  
"No, I don't dink Tristan should read it, dat would be like getting' a kindergarten kid to read a novel," Joey said, the smug grin returning to his face.  
  
"JOEY! Can you not fight with Tristan for **one** moment?" Mai practically yelled at Joey.  
  
"I had to make a comment. He needs to watch his manners," Joey replied, a light blush crossing his face.  
  
"Joseph Wheeler, caring about manners?" laughed Mai, throwing her hands in the air for added effect, "what is the world coming to?"  
  
"I do care if it's someone I care about..." Joey muttered, just loud enough for Mai to hear. Needless to say, the blush had flared up considerably by this point. **(A/N: I love moments!)  
**  
Mai stopped laughing and looked at Joey in surprise. "W-what?"  
  
"I- um... I care about my friends," he gushed, now looking at the floor.  
  
Tristan cleared his throat loudly, obviously irritated that he wasn't the centre of attention anymore, everyone was staring eagerly at Joey and Mai.  
  
"If you two are finished, would you like to know what this says or not?"  
  
end flashback  
  
Téa was jerked out of her memories by someone tapping her lightly on the shoulder. **(A/N: Take a wild guess who it is! Go on!)  
**  
"Téa? You can't sleep either?"  
  
Téa couldn't properly see the person who had spoken but she'd know that voice anywhere. Yami. She was grateful for the cover of darkness, it wouldn't matter if she blushed, no one would see her.  
  
"No. I didn't know you were still awake..." she said as Yami thudded himself down beside her.  
  
"I was... but there's something wrong with this place..." Yami mused, leaning forward on his elbows and staring into space.  
  
Téa shivered. She wanted to say something about the shadows dancing in the corners of her eyes. But she would sound paranoid, or sound like an attention seeker trying to stir up more trouble than was needed.  
  
"Really...?" she muttered.  
  
"Yes... a bad vibe. I don't trust Craine. I think he wants something from us all. And remember the prophecy that neither of us could see? That's not a coincidence. And it's not innocent either. There's something in here, but I can't quite understand what it is..." Yami continued, almost talking to himself now.  
  
Téa shivered again. There was something unnerving about how Yami's calm voice voiced what she was thinking. And it wasn't particularly warm either.  
  
"Are you cold?" Yami said suddenly, looking at Téa concernedly.  
  
"I-I'm fine... well, I am a bit..." she admitted, her teeth chattering.  
  
"Well, of course you are," he said, grinning, "You're not exactly wearing clothes for the weather are you?"** (A/N: I'm trying to get him to loosen up a bit.)**  
  
Téa frowned. They were supposed to be in Australia after all. In summer.  
  
"Look," he said, suddenly serious again, "Would y-y..." he stuttered.  
  
Téa was astonished. She'd never heard him stutter before. It was quite a different thing to hear. There was a long pause. Then Téa felt a something land on her lap.  
  
"Here..." Yami said swiftly and stood up, "I think I'll try and sleep now..."  
  
He started walking away. Téa suddenly realised he had thrown her his jacket.  
  
"Oh," she said abruptly.  
  
There was another long pause, in which Téa felt her face heating up.  
  
"Thank you..." she burbled at the retreating form of Yami.

* * *

It was morning again, and somehow the gang had managed to find themselves in a leafy grotto.  
  
"_Another cave_!" Joey voiced what they were all thinking.  
  
"How big is this virtual place...?" Mai asked rhetorically.  
  
They were all sore, tired and starting to feel grubby. Mai had complained endlessly about the state of her clothes and hair. Trudging through mud and dirt didn't lighten any of their moods.  
  
Out of the blue, everything went black. Rather, everything started dimming. Soon they were in total darkness.  
  
"What...?" they all said together.  
  
"I knew it," Yami said matter-of-factly.  
  
He was staring at the blackness with a sense of cold dread.  
  
"What...?" everyone said again.  
  
"I'm not sure..." he said, avoiding the question. He couldn't risk freaking everyone out now, they were already on the brink of madness.  
  
"You just said..." Joey said angrily. He was sick of this place. The smell, the sight, the sounds of the place (even though the gang's noises were the only ones there). For some reason this place had something different about it, that made him go crazy.

* * *

Craine yawned. This was far too boring to watch, the pathetic teens squabbling over who said what and the state of their clothes. Nothing surprising though, he hadn't suspected total fun... but maybe something a bit more interesting than what was going on now.  
  
"Time I stirred things up a bit, I think... y'know, I've always... enjoyed... a bit of romance..." he said with a tone that would make anyone shudder.

* * *

Téa heard a scream. Suddenly alert she pricked her ears for another sound. The scream came again.  
  
"Can you hear that?" she whispered.  
  
"Hear what?" Joey said, confused.  
  
"That scream!" Téa practically yelled, "We have to help them!"  
  
She started running as she heard the scream yet again. She felt angry that no one cared enough about a poor, innocent person to even try to assist them.

* * *

"Téa! What are you doing?" Yami yelled after her, genuinely worried now. If Téa had gone mad...

* * *

Téa soon found herself in another cave. It was a huge cave system with an endless labyrinth of passageways. It was dark but she found her way. It felt like an unknown force was guiding her round each corner and twisting turn.  
  
The lights turned back on.

* * *

Back in the first cave Yami and the others were still gathering their wits. Everything was illuminated suddenly. Everyone looked anxious.  
  
"We have to go after her," Yami said decidedly and raced off after her.

* * *

Téa stopped and gasped for breath. Once her lungs had caught up with her she raced off again.

* * *

Finally Yami caught a glimpse of someone running ahead of him. He also became aware of a steady dripping sound. He caught a quick glimpse of his surroundings.  
  
Stalactites hung from the ceiling, each one glistening with drops of milky white water. A faint green glow hung about the walls of the cave, from some obscure mineral embedded in the floor. It was light in the cave, and briefly Yami wondered about that, there really wasn't anywhere that the light could be coming from.  
  
But there were more important matters at hand. Like saving Téa. Or whatever she needed. She wasn't exactly in danger at the moment.

* * *

Téa couldn't run anymore. She sank to her knees in defeat and anguish. She couldn't hear the screaming anymore. Whoever it was had probably been silenced now... She didn't want to think about what that could mean. She gasped slightly as she felt the solid ground open beneath her.  
  
"So... familiar..." she muttered as she felt herself falling. She was so surprised that she didn't cry out. She just let herself continue on her way down.

* * *

Yami had just reached Téa when she had fallen. He had tried to grab her hand as she fell but he was far too late. A wild panic gripped him. He'd never felt a panic this strong before. He felt his chest tighten with pain and his breathing came in short bursts. He felt a tingling sensation behind his eyes and something wet gather in the corner of his eyes. And then he was suddenly filled with white hot rage. White hot rage for the person that had trapped them all here, tricked them into thinking everything was OK, and then snatching a person they all cared about away. And finally he was filled with despair.  
  
"No..." he muttered, staring down the hole, "Téa..."

* * *

**Inwe:** So guys, how was that? Review! And if you are the 100th reviewer, whether it happens this chapter, next chapter or the chapter after that, you will get the following chapter dedicated to you. And that would be a great honour. :P 


	10. Disruptions in the System

**Disclaimer: **Don't own YGO, can't even write duels…

**Inwe:** I think excuses are in order!

1. I can't really write sad scenes  
2. I lost… (well, my mum did) my thumb drive… xD And this is saved there!  
3. I went on a holiday! Yay! Back to Queensland! Because last time I went there I broke my leg…  
4. I couldn't be bothered to look for my thumb drive.  
5. I went over my Broadband storage limit… so my computer's working way too slow. And NO it was NOT because I was downloading clips from the OC… hehe…  
6. My yearly exams are just finished, (yes, in Australia it's the END of the school year! YAY!) And I study too hard when they come up… :D

See? I always come prepared! THANKYOU to all who reviewed! I love you all!

**Chapter 9: Disruptions in the System**

Yami had run, Téa had run.

The rest of the gang were still staring at each other. They were obviously all experiencing a kind of delayed reaction.

Surprisingly it was Bakura that spoke up first, "Um, shouldn't we see what the problem is?"

Everyone jumped at the unexpected sound of Bakura's voice. Joey nodded. "I guess we should, Téa might be sick or something…"

There was another long silence. They were all remembering the hysterical state Téa had been when she had told everyone about the screaming. The virtual world _did _do something to people… Téa could have been the first on to crack…

Yugi shook his head impatiently. Were the others _dense _or something? Two of their friends were possibly in danger, one his other half, and the other a friend he had known for years. And the rest of them were standing motionless, as if they _still _hadn't realised what was going on.

"Aren't we going to help them?" Yugi cried out, exasperatedly.

"Right!" Tristan shouted, shaking his head to clear it.

They all started to sprint in the direction Yami and Téa had run off in.

---------------------

Yami was staring at the dark, damp hole that Téa had disappeared through. How could a person be there one moment and be gone the next? Had Téa met the same fate as the one who she had heard scream? _If _she had actually heard something, he reminded himself.

He was still breathing hard, and his usually strategic mind was struggling to come to grips with what had just happened. His chest felt incredibly tight, and he could hear his heart beating faster and faster, getting so fast it felt like it could explode.

Yami felt something damp fall down his cheek and lifted his hand to wipe it away impatiently. He assumed it had fallen from one of the stalactites dangling above his head. Startlingly the water droplet was warm, nothing like the freezing cold, milky water that was falling from above him.

So where could it have come from then?

He felt another wet object slide down his face again, leaving a long damp trail down his cheek. He traced the trail up his face until he reached its place of origin, his eye. But he couldn't be… crying, could he? Spirits _can't _cry, he told himself viciously.

But then again, was he still a spirit? Sure, he had his own body now, but what if it was just an illusion conjured up by Craine? Would he still have his own body after… _if _they ever got out?

---------------------

Craine laughed again, stretching his arms tiredly in his chair. He had stayed awake for the past two days, watching the teens' progress on the screen. Occasionally, Jonothan would come in, and give him a report on how the other duelists were faring in their more 'normal' Virtual Reality world. The most intriguing team of all was definitely Seto Kaiba's team. Apparently, he had almost figured out a way to escape from the world without even meeting the requirements of the game.

Who knows how he'd managed to get his laptop in there?

After Seto's plan had failed, (due to some very quick thinking by Jonothan) he had consoled himself by beating as many duelists as was humanly possible (though - even though Seto would hate to hear it - Yami could probably have done better) in a short space of time. And even though he hadn't quite figured out a way to get out of the accursed world, he had managed to leave a rather charming message on Craine's computer.

One problem stood before Craine and getting what he wanted.

The good side of him. What was originally the only side to Craine.

The weak old fool could somehow fight against the holds Craine would place on him.

---------------------

Yami rose quickly, blinking furiously. He turned to see the rest of the gang out of breath and looking at him quizzically.

"Where's Tea?" they all queried, their heads all tilted to one side.

Yami stared at them, feeling the panic rise up in him again. The panic seemed to course through his entire body, starting first and his feet, and rising steadily up through the tips of his hair. How could he tell them? It was… his fault. He spoke, his voice catching in his throat, "Tea… she, she… fell."

The words seemed to burn through the silence, they seemed to echo in everyone's minds again and again. To Yami, voicing the words seemed to make the whole thing ten times more horrible, more real. He shook his head violently, looking almost desperately back at the others, hoping that they would be able to think of a way to get her back.

"WHAT!?" Joey burst out, disbelief etched all over his face.

Yami didn't speak, but that familiar rage was slowly seeping into his system again. But instead of it being directed at the person that had landed them all here, it was at his own friends for being so ignorant.

He shook himself. He shouldn't get mad at his own friends, that would make things much worse. As he had said to Kaiba during that duel back in Battle City, anger never gets you anywhere. And how were they to know what had happened to Téa?

He steadied himself and tried to talk it through calmly.

"After I had followed Téa for a time, she stopped. I'm not quite sure how it happened, but suddenly… ground seemed to disappear, and Téa fell," he said, his voice wavering slightly.

"And I could have saved her…" he said suddenly, "I could have saved her, if I hadn't hesitated, she wouldn't have fallen… it's my fault…"

He looked down at his feet, feeling helpless for the first time since he had emerged from the Millennium Puzzle. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Joey glancing at Mai without saying anything, when he thought no one was watching.

Was this how Joey had felt when Marik trapped Mai's mind in the Shadow Realm while Joey stood helpless beside her?

Having his own body was too tiresome. All the emotions he had experienced before seemed shadows of the emotions you could experience in your own body. Yami had forgotten what it had been like, all those years ago, to have your own body.

The others were silent, and looking at Yami in a kind of astonishment. He was so different now!

"Then we have to save her!" Yugi said determinedly.

"We what?" Yami questioned, looking up.

"Téa. We need to save her. We can't waste any more time!" Tristan said.

"Right." Joey stated.

"And we'll do it together?" Serenity asked, looking around at them all.

"Of course. Together." Yugi said, smiling.

Yami nodded, together they would find Téa.

---------------------

A tiny Kuriboh leapt from its perch on one of the high branches of an old weeping willow tree. The glen in which the tree was placed was one of the few places Craine had bothered to program in Duel Monsters. The only monsters that occupied the place were monsters like Kuriboh, small and insignificant ones, programmed there merely because Craine could.

Its wide eyes observed the glen in front of him. The creature had heard a noise, and being the curious type, jumped down from its branch to see what was amiss. What he saw was beyond what the tiny little creature could comprehend. Something lay there, on a pile of leaves, was something much larger than anything he had ever seen before.

Téa.

Of course the creature couldn't know that it was Téa, it had never seen a human in its virtual life. It hopped bravely towards the pile of leaves, its head turning this way and that, his ears pricked for any sign of danger. The figure on the leaves groaned softly and shifted very slightly.

The Kuriboh jumped back in alarm as Téa stirred.

---------------------

Craine stretched and yawned. Spending two whole days in the same chair _really_ took it out of you. He observed the monitors in front of him. One showed the gang out in the sunlight, looking very confused. A second showed a shot of a glen filled with duel monsters and one teenage girl. Suddenly, he frowned. The girl was stirring.

"No! She's not supposed to wake up yet!" he growled to himself, "This isn't right…"

He tapped his fingers on the desk. He stared at the screen, willing an explanation to just appear in his head. Then slowly a realisation dawned on him.

"The only thing that could break her sleep would be-" Craine slammed his fist on the table in frustration, "Impossible. Not like _that_."

---------------------

The gang was outside the cave, blinking in the sunlight. They had gotten nowhere. Logically, Téa would have to be far underground if she had fallen through a hole in a cave. Logically. But the whole gang very much doubted that this place was anywhere _near_ logical, especially since a seemingly mad old man had created it.

"How do we get underground, big brother?" Serenity said, blinking up at Joey.

Joey's forehead creased as he made an effort to think hard. "I… dunno, Seren. But we'd better find Téa soon…"

Yami felt like just falling on the ground and dig as far down as he could with his bare hands. But he knew that would be an absolutely crazy thing to do, and it would make him look like a stupid, weak fool.

"Look," Yugi said, pointing up above the cave entrance, "There could be a way down from up there.

"_Yugi_," Tristan said, snorting, "We want to go up, not _down_."

"I _know _that! I just think that there might be a way down. I mean, from up there there could be another way down. It's worth a try, isn't it?"

Yami nodded quickly. "It is. We can't waste anymore time."

"_Excuse_ me, Yugi? Do any of you have any plans to actually get _up_ there?" Mai said in disbelief, "There's no easy way up there and…"

But all the guys had already started climbing. Mai folded her arms.

"C'mon Mai!" Joey shouted from about two metres up the wall, "It's not dat far up! Only abou' 5 metres!"

Mai sighed. Was there anything worse than being stuck with the knucklehead for two days? And maybe even longer than that? She thought not. But if everyone else was going…

Mai walked towards the wall and looked up. She'd kill Joey when she got to the top.

---------------------

"Where _am _I?" Téa muttered, sitting up. Her head was throbbing and her left leg was aching. But at the moment she was more worried about being stuck in the middle of nowhere with no idea where she was.

"How did I get here…?" she continued, trying to stand up. Her leg buckled beneath her weight and she lurched sideways. Her arms flailed desperately about until she caught hold of a sturdy tree branch. She growled in frustration and sat heavily back down on the leaves. She had a fleeting memory of someone's hand and then… blackness… Then she remembered… a voice calling out to her, saying her name. That was it.

"Well, it can't get any worse than this," she frowned. She took another look at her surroundings. It was Yami, _Yami _that had saved her. In another situation she would have been ecstatic. But the fall seemed to have sapped the life out of her. It felt like everything inside of her was just a big, black pit, like the one she had fallen into earlier. How could Craine do that?

The shadow realm could, a voice whispered inside her head.

---------------------

Mai and Serenity's shrieking echoed down the passageway. The way down was dark, black and slippery, so consequently instead of walking downwards, the gang was sliding its way down the passage. They crashed hard into hard rock, slid over pebbles and the whole experience was very painful. And to Mai's absolute disgust, their clothes were dirty. Very dirty.

They had been sliding for 10 minutes, going deeper and deeper and deeper. None of them would be surprised if they found themselves on the other side of the world again, they were going so deep. Suddenly, after what seemed like forever, Yami (who was leading) saw a breathtaking, awesome, incredible sight. Light. At the end of the tunnel.

"We're nearly there!" he cried.

The gang gave weak, exhausted cheers.

Yami felt himself painfully to the bottom of the passageway and blinked as he found himself in a leafy, bright, green glen.

---------------------

**Inwe: **I know… that wasn't such a good chapter… Well, it's not too bad… right? ::weak smile:: Um, soon the others will leave the Virtual World so there'll be time for a lot more romance. Right now there's not all that much. Review! (Just 8 reviews to go! Yay!)


	11. Up River

**Disclaimer: **Don't own anything here. Except Craine and Jonothan. Who are boring anyway.

**Inwe: **I LIVE! I know, I know. Yet another slow update. But I have recently discovered that I have a life:gasp: Tehe. Yeah, so I have been busy with other things. Oh, and me and _Luthien-Anwaman_ have been having a challenge where we have to write something about a canoe ride or similiar in this chapter of both our fics. I also want to thank some one or another who put this as their Fanfiction of the month. I'm not sure who it was, but that lightened up my day!

This chapter is dedicated to… well, I'm going to give it to Luthien-Anwaman, because the 100th reviewer actually sent the same review twice. :blinks: She's my regular reviewer closest to the 100 mark.

**Chapter 10: Up River**

Téa shook her head again, and blinked again. "Y- Yami? Is that you?"

She was sure she was hallucinating. She had hit her head pretty hard on that pile of leaves. She was feeling incredibly dizzy and was repeatedly shaking her head to clear it. It wasn't a good feeling in the _slightest_. Téa heard another crash as Joey and Tristan landed on the ground, bowling over Yami in the process. She screamed. Yami, Joey and Tristan stood up quickly and moved away from the place they had shot through. This was lucky, because Mai, followed by Serenity, Yugi and Bakura came through at that moment.

Téa, feeling overwhelmed, looked up at her friends and asked, "What just happened?"

The gang let out a huge cry of joy at seeing Téa. They rushed forward to pull her up and bombarded her with questions and cries of, "We thought you could be gone!"

"How did you find me?" she questioned.

"Yami, here, knew just where to find you. He was so worried…" said Yugi, grinning, and Téa flushed.

"We all were." Yami interjected. He wasn't so sure why he needed to let Tea know so urgently that he wasn't the only one worried, but for some reason, he did.

"Dat's right! But we need to get out of here… dis place is givin' me the creeps…" Joey said.

Without warning, Yami felt a strange sensation take over his body, not alike the feeling they all had when they had first arrived in the virtual world. In moments, he was no longer standing in the glen, but in a large conference room, empty but for two people.

"Thank you so much for joining us, pharaoh," said Craine, reclining self-assuredly back on his chair.

"Us?" said Yami.

Craine gestured vaguely to Jonothan.

"Straight to the point, I assume that you and your dear little friends would like to get out of your little world…" Craine stated. He seemed to have rehearsed this whole conversation, able to predict exactly what Yami was going to say.

"Yes, we would," Yami said bluntly.

"_Wonderful_," said Craine, "then you are _just _the person that I wish to converse with at this moment. How much would your friends be willing to stake to get you out of the virtual world?" Yami watched Craine cautiously.

"Anything within reason."

"And what is within reason? Do you count death?" Craine continued at a shake of the head from Yami, "Danger?"

Yami nodded, "Again, Craine, _within reason_. What sort of danger?"

"Pharaoh… have you ever been canoeing?"

Yami appeared on the screen in front of the gang.

"Craine has told me to tell you that you will be canoeing down an underground river, and we will be one step closer to getting out of this place. I'm not allowed to help you at this stage, but he says that he will put me back into the world once you are at your destination. I don't trust him, but this seems harmless enough. Follow the tunnel on your left until you reach the river. Craine is provided you with canoeing equipment. I'll meet you there. Good luck."

**------------------**

"Oh, _please_. _Tell _me we aren't canoeing across _that_!" Mai said, as she stared warily at the river.

"What would you say if I told you dat… _we are_?" Joey answered, eyeing the river off in the same way.

"Look, I know that Craine told us that we were going to canoe down an underground river, but this isn't exactly what I had in mind," Yugi said.

The river was sure, a river. But the thing Craine seemed to have forgotten was the fact that the whole river was, instead of water, entirely filled with boiling, molten, scorching, blistering magma. The gang, minus Yami, was still about 100 metres away from the actual river, but already it was so hot it was as if they were having every bit of moisture in their bodies sucked away into oblivion.

"Hey! Look there!" Téa shouted, "There's something just ahead!"

"What? You mean the giant magma river? Uh… we can see it Téa!" Tristan said.

"No, no, no… _Just _ahead!" Téa yelled in exasperation, "_Right_ there!" She pointed to a spot just ahead of the gang, where two canoes, paddles, and a collection of strange, white suits in various sizes.

Yugi ran forward. "These must be _heat blocking_ suits…" he said, picking on up, "I _knew _that Craine wouldn't _really_ make us just row across the magma without protection."

"Come _on_, Yugi, do you really dink some suit is goin' to protect us from _dis_?" Joey said, looking bewildered.

Yugi's shoulders slumped. Bakura piped up, "Actually, he might be right… Craine _did_ create this world; he could do whatever he likes to this place, so these suits will probably override the system in some way…"

The gang nodded. "Fine, we'll put these on…" Téa muttered. She picked up the smallest suit.

"That'll be for Yugi!" Tristan laughed, snatching the suit from Téa and throwing it to Yugi. Yugi blushed and made a strange sound in his throat.

Once every member of the gang was clothed in one of the hideous suits, they set off down the path to the river, dragging the canoe behind them. The suits really did completely block out the heat, but they all had a terrible feeling that if one of them fell in, there would be problems. What would happen? Can you die in the virtual world? Maybe, like during the Noa saga, they would have to give up their bodies for some reason or another. Perhaps, medical research… Craine really did seem to be crazy. The idea filled them with a sense of cold dread.

Suddenly, Tristan cried out in alarm, after no one had spoken since they had put the suits on, "I CAN'T LET CRAINE TAKE OUT MY BRAIN AND PUT IT IN A HUMAN ROBOT, FOR HIM TO SEE IF IT WORKS! I'VE ALREADY HAD THAT HAPPEN WITH A MONKEY!"

"Tristan, he _couldn't_ put it in a _human_ robot, dere wouldn' be enough brain power to keep it alive. I mean… the monkey was fine…" Joey said with an air of pride, _he'd_ been the one to make up an insult this time.

Tristan blinked and then shouted back at Joey, "Hey, at least a monkey has more intelligence than a goldfish!"

"My brain is bigger than a goldfish's!"

"IS NOT!"

"IS TO!"

"IS NOT!"

"IS TO!"

"_Come on_, guys, _stop fighting_. This is pointless. Joey, your brain isn't the size of a goldfish!" Mai interrupted.

Tristan and Joey both fell silent. Joey didn't dare ask if she meant his brain was bigger or smaller than a goldfish's.

By this time, they had reached the bank of the river. No one was making any move to put the canoes in the magma. All of them looked like they were wising that they could just walk away from the river, and magically turn up in a completely different place.

Téa bit her lip as she watched the magma churn with molten rock. "I guess… we can just get across this now. Yeah, we'll be fine!" she said, gathering up every last ounce of courage in her body. "We've done worse before!"

"You're right, Téa! We can do it! Ok, let's just get into these canoes, and we'll get to the opposite bank of the river. It shouldn't be too far." Yugi said, not all together confident himself, but he was smiling encouragingly at Joey, Tristan and Mai, who were still looking rather dubious.

After much encouragement, argument and downright difficulty, the gang managed to get themselves into both canoes, but the problem remained on how to get them in the magma, if they couldn't stand in it when they were pushing it in. They were all huddled in the two canoes (Joey, Mai, Tristan and Serenity in one boat, and Yugi, Téa and Bakura in the other) but they were still on dry ground, and they couldn't see any possible way to get the canoes into the magma. Suddenly, they felt the ground shift underneath them, and they were suddenly floating in the magma.

"This shouldn't be possible…" muttered Yugi, wincing, "The canoes should have burnt up… _we_ should have burnt up… And how are we going to use the paddles in the magma…? It's too dense…"

"It's fine, Yugi… this is Craine's virtual world… he wouldn't have set us an impossible task, and he can do whatever he wants to this place," said Téa.

Tristan and Joey ended up using the paddles in the first boat, and Yugi and Bakura were using them in the other. Mai flatly refused to paddle, Joey flatly refused to let Serenity paddle, and Téa didn't seem to want to either. None of them actually wanted to do the paddling, but Yugi and Bakura decided that they should do it, since they were guys and Téa was a girl.

(**A/N:** **I don't know much about canoeing, so if this is a little messed up, I'm sorry.**)

Joey and Tristan took a few tentative strokes. The canoe moved forward, moving through the magma just about as smoothly as if they were going through water. The canoe wasn't moving smoothly at all though, Joey and Tristan were having considerable trouble moving the paddles in unison, and the canoe seemed to be constantly lurching from side to side. Mai rolled her eyes.

Yugi bit his lip and moved to the paddle through the magma. The canoe turned slightly to one side. Bakura grabbed onto the paddle and straightened to canoe out, so it was pointing forward. Both let out a huge sigh of relief. Téa grinned. "See, guys? It wasn't so hard!"

Joey and Tristan continued to struggle with the canoe. "Easy for you to say…" muttered Tristan, and Joey snorted. Both were immediately surprised at themselves. There was something about the tense atmosphere of this Virtual World that made tolerating each other much harder than what was normal. Instead of insults and other comments just bouncing off and being forgotten, they were settling under the skin and staying, and the memory of the insult stayed with them, niggling at their consciousness like a particularly annoying mosquito. In reality, they would have been a little exasperated by Téa's enthusiasm at the worst possible time, but here, it seemed to be a million times worse than usual.

**------------------**

"This is crazy, Craine! What are you doing to my friends? I wouldn't have agreed to this if you had told me what they were _really_ going to be doing!" Yami shouted at Craine, who was still looking placidly and unconcernedly at the screen.

"Pharaoh, pharaoh… Sit down. Would you like a drink? Your dear friends will be as right as rain…" Craine signaled at Jonothan, who brought a tray of cakes and drinks over to where Craine and Yami were. Yami looked absolutely disgusted.

"How can you sit there while my friends could be about to die? How can you?" Yami demanded.

"You're not helping your friends right now, are you pharaoh? You're _worthless_. They don't need you," Craine said, calmly, as though he was commenting on the weather.

Yami knew better than to respond. He sank down into the chair and watched intently at his friends' progress on the screen.

"Just out of interest, pharaoh… you don't think of _her_," Craine said, flicking his finger towards Téa, "as anything more than a friend, do you?"

**------------------**

Téa had given up on any attempts to cheer up her friends, who seemed to be fixed on their current tasks. They didn't seem to be in any immediate danger, other than the fact that they were currently canoeing down an underground river filled with magma. But really, in their circumstances, it didn't seem to be as much of a threat as it would be in reality. Most things seemed to be different in this virtual world. Most feelings (hate, for example) were intensified, but the feel of the things around them seemed to have lessened considerably. The ground wasn't as hard, and water wasn't as wet. And of course… Yami had his own body now.

Téa's head still hurt from the fall, but nevertheless, she decided that _this moment_, the one where she was floating over magma in a ridiculous suit, was the moment that she was going to figure out her feelings for Yami. Her face didn't give a glimpse of the massive internal struggle that brought her to her conclusion.

I like him.

There. She had done it. Finally, she had admitted it to herself. Just that seemed to have lessened some kind of weight from herself to a large extent. She almost laughed out loud. She didn't think she would be admitting that anytime soon, let alone while her life lay in significant peril. There was one question remaining… _WHY?_ She didn't have a clue. It was just like that. And she knew she'd thought that for a while. Téa knew there _had_ to be a reason… but why try and figure it out now? She'd taken a huge step, and least she thought she had, and that was what mattered for the moment.

Téa was jolted out of her thoughts by a sudden scream coming from the other boat. Mai and Serenity were screaming, Tristan was shouting… and Joey, Joey had disappeared! Téa was filled with panic. Yugi and Bakura were urgently steering the boat over to the other boat.

"JOEY! JOEY! JOEY!" Mai and Serenity were screaming, and the whole cave sounded with his name.

"_What happened_?" Téa yelled in horror. How could he have fallen in?

Yugi and Bakura had brought the boat over to the other, and were fixatedly staring at the magma. Tristan was still shouting, looking ready to dive in after Joey. Serenity was sobbing, and Mai seemed to be as well, Téa couldn't tell. The two boats were alight with panic and terror, each person reacting differently to what had happened, but each different reaction meant the same thing; their friend was gone.

**------------------**

Yami shot up out of his chair. "Joey! What did you do to him, Craine? Get him out of there. NOW!"

"Calm down, pharaoh… you'll see what will happen, all in good time."

Yami was shaking with anger. Something was telling him that nothing had happened to Joey. That Joey was safe, and Yami was hoping that that something was right.

**------------------**

Joey hadn't resurfaced for what seemed like an eternity. Suddenly, a drenched blonde head bobbed to the surface. It was of course, Joey, and he looked absolutely bewildered. He shook out some droplets from his hair, blinked, and said, "I-I'm not dead! I don't feel different at all…"

Mai almost fell out of the canoe. "You idiot! What the heck do you think you're doing? We were worried sick about you… and…" She looked furious, but Téa could see that behind her mask of fury, she was almost weary with relief.

"JOEY!" the rest of the gang shouted together. "We need to get you out of the magma and into the canoe." Tristan said, looking jubilant.

"You know, I really don't think this is magma…"

"_What do you mean it's not magma, Joey? You almost died in there_!" Mai positively shrieked at Joey, who was still looking confused.

"Some of de magma got inside my mask. It tastes like… water!" Joey said, splashing about in the water like a maniac. "It isn't dangerous at all!" He hauled himself into his canoe, almost making it topple over into the water.

"Be careful, Joey!" Yugi shouted to him, looking unbelievably glad to see him, just like the rest of the gang.

Joey flopped into the canoe, flooding the canoe with magma, or whatever it was. "I'm sorry I scared you, guys!" He said, for a moment looking sincere. "But this is not magma. I dunno what it is, but it's not magma." To demonstrate, he took one of his gloves off and dipped his fingers into the liquid that the canoes were floating in. His fingers came out, and they weren't horribly disfigured, and Joey didn't seem to be in pain.

"I think it's just coloured water, guys. It's orange food dye… or something…" Yugi said.

"But what about the heat… the way it looked…" Mai whispered, looking at Joey like it was the first time she'd ever done it properly.

"It could have just been an illusion. Craine did it, just to scare us." Bakura said, now picking up the oars again.

"We might as well just get out of here then…" Tristan said weakly. Everyone was still in quite a bit of shock. First Joey had disappeared, just like that, and now he was sitting in the canoe, drenched from head to toe, and looking like he'd had some of the best fun he'd had for a long time. It wasn't plausible. It wasn't reasonable. It wasn't conceivable. But it had happened, and the evidence was right before their eyes.

**------------------**

**Inwe: **WHOO! Longest chapter yet! Please tell me what you think! (I think there was a bit of OOCness in that chapter, to tell you the truth)


End file.
